The program on Thursday, May 18, will focus on the science and medicine of influenza. The award-winning historian, John M. Barry, author of The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the 1918 Pandemic, will begin the day with a pandemic overview and history of influenza. As noted by Mr. Barry, the 1918 Pandemic killed more people in 20 weeks than AIDS has killed in 20 years; it killed more people in a year than the plagues of the Middle Ages killed in a century.

Arnold Monto, MD, is a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan; his primary concerns include occurrence, etiology, and prevention of infectious diseases in industrialized and developing countries. He authored the article, "The Threat of an Avian Influenza Pandemic," which appeared in the NEJM in 2005. Dr. Monto will discuss the science and medicine of influenza.

Richard Whitley, MD, is director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alabama. Dr. Whitley is internationally known for his research in the translation of molecular biology to clinical application. He organized the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Collaborative Antiviral Study Group, whose role is to perform clinical trials of antiviral therapies directed against medically important viral diseases considered as threats to human health. Dr. Whitley will focus on special populations at risk.

Michael L. Tapper, MD, serves as director of the Division of Infectious Diseases, hospital epidemiologist and director of the AIDS Program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. He also served as president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America in 2003. Dr. Tapper will address infection control and prevention.

Tomas Aragon, MD/DrPH, serves as the principal investigator and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness at the School of Public Health, UC Berkeley. Prior to his current position, he was on the faculty of SFGH/UCSF. He will present a model of a pandemic in a major metropolitan area and the implications for the San Francisco Bay Area.

Howard Backer, MD, MPH, chief of the Immunization Branch for the California Department of Health Services, will outline planning at the state level and the challenges in responding to a pandemic.

Our keynote speaker, Larry Brilliant, MD, MPH, a former professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, University of Michigan, has an exceptional background. He recently was appointed director of Google.org Philanthropy, and he founded the Seva Foundation, which has performed two million free sight-restoring eye operations in India and Nepal. Dr. Brilliant ran the WHO smallpox eradication program in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh in the 1980s and is now working to eradicate polio in India. He served as the last UN inspector to visit Iran to search for hidden smallpox. He is founder of The WELL online community and is CEO of two technology start-up ventures. He was recently honored as one of the 2006 recipients of the humanitarian award, the TED Prize, for leaders in technology, entertainment, and design. The TED Community honors people with ideas and passions big enough to change the world, and the prize grants him one wish to change the world. Dr. Brilliant will discuss lessons he has learned from the history of public health to better prepare for disasters and epidemics.

On Friday, May 19, the agenda will focus on local planning and partnering with the private sector for disaster planning.

As you can see, this is an extraordinary program. We are particularly pleased that San Mateo is hosting nationally renowned presenters of this caliber. I hope you will support the community through your presence at the program and participation in pandemic influenza preparedness planning so our region is ready if confronted with a pandemic.